The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a functional block diagram of an optical mouse 100 according to the prior art is shown. The optical mouse 100 includes a control module 102, a user interface 104, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 106, an antenna 108, a light detecting module 110, a light generating module 112, and a battery 114.
The light generating module 112 emits light to a surface adjacent to the light generating module 112. The light generating module 112 may include a laser and/or a light emitting diode (LED). The light detecting module 110 receives reflected light from the surface. The light detecting module 110 processes the reflected light as image data, and analyzes the image data to detect movement of the optical mouse 100 relative to the surface. The control module 102 communicates with the user interface 104. The user interface 104 may include buttons, scroll wheels, tilt wheels, and/or other input devices.
The control module 102 outputs movement signals and user input data such as button clicks and/or scrolling from the user interface 104 to the RF transceiver 106. The RF transceiver 106 wirelessly communicates this data to a host (not shown) via the antenna 108. The battery 114 provides electrical power to the components of the optical mouse 100.
Since the optical mouse 100 is battery powered, it is important to reduce power consumption to prolong battery life. At least the light generating module 112 and light detecting module 110 need to be powered to detect movement of the mouse 100. Light generation and detection tends to consume relatively high power. However, the user may not use the wireless mouse for hours, days, or months on end. Some wireless optical mice may include on/off switches, which reduces power consumption and increases battery life when used. However, the user needs to remember to turn the wireless optical mouse off, which may not happen regularly.